WAKEFIELD, Mass., Sept. 11, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Comverse, Inc. ("CNS"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Comverse Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:CMVT) ("CTI"), today announced that Denis Bernaert will join the company as Senior Vice President, Managing Director Europe, Middle East and Africa, effective September 12, 2012. In this new position, Mr. Bernaert will be responsible for all CNS sales and operational activities in the EMEA region.

"Denis Bernaert is a proven executive with more than 20 years of international IT management experience, the last 15 of which were focused on telecom BSS, both as a solutions provider and a network operator," said Philippe Tartavull, Comverse, Inc.'s President and Chief Executive Officer. "Denis' background makes him a perfect fit for CNS, as he has a deep understanding of our products, our markets and our customers' needs."

"I am very pleased to join CNS, a company I know quite well as both an industry participant and a network operator. CNS has a strong reputation for leadership, innovation and customer service in the BSS, mobile Internet and Value-Added Services markets, and has excellent opportunities for future growth and success. I look forward to years of success with the CNS team and our customers," said Mr. Bernaert.

About Denis Bernaert

Mr. Bernaert joins CNS from Netcracker, a unit of NEC, where he served as Vice President Sales, Europe & Africa. Prior to that, during his 10 years with BSS solutions supplier Convergys, he served in a variety of international management positions of increasing responsibility, including delivery, business development, sales and account management. Prior to that, he served in management roles at communications network operator Cegetel/SFR for five years, focusing on customer care and billing. Before that, Mr. Bernaert was with Accenture (then named Andersen Consulting) for eight years, and as a Senior Manager led several business transformations and IT implementations across a number of industries, including telecommunications. He holds an Engineering degree in electronics from Institut Superieur d'Electronique de Paris, and completed the Advanced Management Programme from Insead business school. He is a reserve officer in the French Navy.

About Comverse Technology, Inc.

CTI, through its wholly-owned subsidiary CNS, is the world's leading provider of software and systems enabling converged billing and active customer management and value-added voice, messaging and mobile Internet services. CNS' extensive customer base spans more than 125 countries and covers over 450 communication service providers serving more than two billion subscribers. CTI also holds majority ownership positions in Verint and privately-held Starhome.

This press release contains a number of forward-looking statements. Words, and variations of words such as "expect", "intend", "will", "anticipate", "believe", "propose" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, CTI's intent to distribute CNS shares to CTI shareholders, CTI's intent to explore the elimination of its holding company structure, and the timing of the foregoing actions. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of CTI's control, and could cause results to materially differ from expectations. Such risks and uncertainties, include, but are not limited to: failure to satisfy any of the conditions to the proposed distribution, including obtaining the required shareholder vote; adverse effects on the market price of CTI's or Verint's common stock and on CTI's operating results because of a failure to complete the proposed distribution; failure to realize the expected benefits of the proposed distribution; negative effects of announcement or consummation of the proposed distribution or strategic alternatives on the market price of CTI's or Verint's common stock; significant transaction costs and/or unknown liabilities; general economic and business conditions that affect CTI and its assets in connection with CTI's announced intentions; unanticipated expenses such as litigation or legal settlement expenses; tax law changes; the impact of CTI's announced intentions on CTI's employees, customers and suppliers; future opportunities that CTI's board may determine present greater potential to increase shareholder value; and the ability of the companies to operate independently following the distribution. Actual results could differ materially. For further information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with CTI's businesses, please also see the risks described in the section entitled "Forward-Looking Statements", Item 1A, "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in CTI's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2012 filed with the SEC on April 2, 2012 or in subsequently filed periodic, current or other reports. CTI undertakes no commitment to update or revise forward-looking statements except as required by law.

Shares of Comverse Technology (Nasdaq:CMVT) were gapping down Thursday morning with an open price 10.7% lower than Wednesday's closing price. The stock closed at $6.07 yesterday and opened today's trading at $5.42.

Comverse Technology (Nasdaq:CMVT) hit a new 52-week low Monday as it is currently trading at $5.88, below its previous 52-week low of $5.90 with 451,929 shares traded as of 10:05 a.m. ET. Average volume has been 2.3 million shares over the past 30 days.